Middle East region

New developments and curiosities from a changing global media landscape: People, Spaces, Deliberation brings trends and events to your attention that illustrate that tomorrow's media environment will look very different from today's, and will have little resemblance to yesterday's.

A majority of nationals in all six countries want more entertainment media based on their culture and history, ranging from 52% of Tunisians to 80% of Qataris.

Use of entertainment media in Arabic is widespread, but use of English is much lower and—in some countries—declining. Only about four in 10 nationals watch films or access the internet in English. Majorities of nationals consume entertainment content from Arab countries, while consumption of film, TV, and music from the U.S. decreased since 2014.

Censorship and regulations

Three in 10 internet users worry about governments checking their online activity, a slight decline from 2013 and 2015.

A majority of nationals supports the freedom to express ideas online even if they are unpopular (54%).

Online & Social Media

About eight in 10 national internet users in the region use Facebook and WhatsApp, the dominant social media platforms.

From 2013 to 2016, internet penetration rose in all six countries surveyed, but most dramatically in Egypt, as well as Lebanon.